For several stops on this tour, we have talked about the use of narrative. Narrative can be subtle or straight forward. Almost everything has some narrative in it. For example, the Golden Doors on the baptistery at the Cathedral of Florence. Those doors tell several important stories for the bible. It is sometimes called the poor manís bible because everyone can read a picture but not everyone could actually read. Another use of narrative is the symbols used by Gaudi in Casa Batllo. This complex narrative describes the sword of St. George killing the dragon. It also includes jaw-like balconies for the martyrs of the past. Simpler versions of narrative are as simple as the canal in Granada. Once the river flowing through the city but was covered due to a demand for a road and new construction. But the city eventually put the canal, the sketch to the right, in to bring water back into the city and remind everyone that the city once thrived by the river.
I plan on using narrative on my site to tell the story of the steel plant that once stood on the site. It was a major boom for the town and many people were employed there. But in the last seven years, the site has been completely demolished, leaving no history or trace that it was there. I want to honor the people that once worked there and the factory that made Kokomo a city. My narrative will follow the steel as it traveled throughout the plant and eventually became useful products. This traveling narrative will wonder throughout the site between the other uses of the site. Basically, the past will intertwine into the future. Narrative preserves history in a way that everyone can enjoy and understand. The site is completely bare now, stripped of everything great that was once there. Simple narrative can bring back the life of the place. Preliminary designs diagrams are to the right.